THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PRISONS SHOULD TAKE NOTE

Foroyaa has reported many cases of detention affecting people who were detained in prison. How a person who is not charged with any crime could be found in prison defies logic and the law.

Logic dictates that any person who is not charged with a crime, should not be punished because of the whims and the caprices of the powerful. To punish an innocent person is impunity. The law is also clear that no one should be admitted in a prison that he/she is not legally sent for detention. Section 31 subsection (1) of the Prisons Act gives a warning to all those responsible for the administration of prisons. It orders without any ambiguity that:

“No prisoner shall be admitted to prison unless accompanied by a remand warrant, a warrant or order of detention, or warrant of conviction or of committal or an order of a court martial.” A secret detention in prisons is a sign of impunity and should be stopped by those administering prisons. They are duty bound to reject any prisoner who has not been ordered to be kept in prison through a warrant of one sort or the other issued by a competent authority.